


a little more thunder, a little more lightning, a little more you

by ringerxo



Category: Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Archery, Did I mention the fluff, Fluff, Forehead Kisses, Jewelry, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, alec is a magpie, forehead scritches, this is what happens when you faff off work and end up headcanoning on twitter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 19:06:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7400038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ringerxo/pseuds/ringerxo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec takes Magnus with him wherever he goes.</p><p>Magnus finds answers he wasn't searching for, and is happy all the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a little more thunder, a little more lightning, a little more you

**Author's Note:**

> TWITTER Y U HELP ME PROCRASTINATE ON THE NEXT CHAPTER OF THE COFFEE SHOP AU
> 
>  
> 
> [where the fuckery happens](http://twitter.com/ringerxo)
> 
>  
> 
> [the title comes from here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pcxLHPUvHk)

The first time it happened, Magnus blamed the mess.

Alec had been staying over more frequently, and Magnus cleared out the top drawer in the armoire for him to keep his stuff. Of course, to add dramatic flair, Magnus did it in front of Alec, who blushed profusely and rubbed the back of his neck and then looked up at Magnus with his head ducked a bit and, well, it took him longer than usual to clear out the drawer, since he simply _had_ to pause to bite a strategically-placed string of hickeys into Alec’s collarbone, right under his shirt, with Alec’s warnings about visibility disintegrating into surprised, bitten-off moans and them rutting against each other until they came.

In any case, Magnus had unceremoniously dumped his jewelry into a new and rather cute set of drawers next to his makeup table, and had never bothered to sort through it, picking and sifting through it when he needed a particular piece. And today, he had spent a little more time sifting through it, frowning a little when he couldn’t find his spiral arrow ear cuff.

Shrugging, he selected a simple metal sheath cuff, slid it on, and sat down at his table, the thought of the earring slipping from his mind as he perused his eyeliner collection.

*

The second time it happened, it was frustrating.

Magnus was planning a visit to Hotel Dumort for a strategy meeting with Raphael (which was code for him drinking and reminiscing and Raphael rolling his eyes and offering scathing remarks), and his indigo silk shirt needed a glint of silver to make it intriguing and just that touch of elegant _danger_ that one really should project in a vampire lair. You know. For appearances.

His multilayered silver chain, however, was nowhere to be found. This time, Magnus searched his room, even peeking into Alec’s drawer (which took him an absurdly long time to close, since he just stood there and took deep breaths, Alec’s smell of leather and petrichor and Shadowhunter intoxicating him), but no luck.

“Chairman?” he said to the cat curled up on his bed. “Have you been morphing into Kreacher? Are you stockpiling my stuff because it’s glittery?”

Chairman Meow yawned, then walked to the edge of the bed and jumped onto the armoire and settled on the edge, turning his yellow gaze onto Magnus.

Magnus stuck his tongue out at the cat and, disgruntled, grabbed his dark gold chain – just as good, but had an awfully late nineties vibe.

*

“I’m gonna kill Jace,” Alec grumbled, tugging on his socks. He didn’t stumble over adorably, but Magnus didn’t care; Alec’s stability and poise had benefited him enough that he forgave him for not being able to fulfill that particular rom com cliché.

“What did the blonde terror do this time?” Magnus asked, propping up his head on his hands and watching Alec pull the second sock on, and then buckle his jeans.

He was still shirtless. Magnus suspected it was for his benefit. And he was benefiting from it.

“He lost my thumb ring, and I need it for the range today.” Bending over to buckle his boots closed, Alec straightened up and sighed. “I need a good one for practice today.”

“Can it be any old ring?” Magnus asked, and Alec nodded, saying, “The band just has to be wide enough to protect my thumb. Also, preferably not smooth. Even a leather band would do.”

“Don’t you wear the gloves?” Magnus asked, and Alec sat down next to him on the bed, carding his fingers through Magnus’s hair absently, a look that was soft and intent settling on his face.

It was Magnus’s favorite expression of Alec’s. The Shadowhunter looked at him as if he was perpetually learning him, reading him, cherishing him, and sometimes when he didn’t think Magnus was looking, Alec still looked shell-shocked, as if he didn’t believe this was real.

Magnus had a hard time believing that Alec came back to him most nights. He marveled at Alec’s patience, and attention, and basked in it. Sometimes, however, when Alec left for Institute duties, Magnus felt like their relationship was hung on the coat rack next to the door, waiting patiently for Alec to step back into the loft and slip into it, kissing Magnus breathless and trading soft glances and whispered promises.

“I think I see something that might fit,” Alec said suddenly, and dropping a kiss onto the top of Magnus’s head, he got up and went over to the jewelry drawer, pulling out a chunky pewter ring.

“But how do you know—“ Magnus started saying, but then Alec slipped it onto his thumb with a grin, and the words “if it fits you” were forgotten.

“There we go,” Alec said. “I’ll have it back tonight.”

Magnus took a look at the ease with which Alec eased the ring off his thumb and into his pocket, tendrils of suspicion poking through his mind.

*

“Looking for Alec?”

Magnus spun around and saw Izzy, clad in tight leather pants and a bandage purple top, with her arms crossed under her chest and a shit-eating grin on her face. The ruby was perfectly showcased, and accentuated by her bloodred stiletto booties.

“Perpetually,” he answered smoothly, and her grin grew even wider.

“Try the archery range,” she said. “I think he’s alone there now, in fact.”

“Isabelle,” Magnus said with feeling, patting her upper arm, “you are a treasure,” and he sailed past her and turned a corner, gliding down the stairs towards the practice ranges.

There were a few combat rooms, an armory, and perpendicular to those was the archery range, a long, narrow, windowless room with yellowed fluorescent lighting. Magnus opened the door and stepped into the small locker room, and was greeted, through the glass of the window there, with the sight of Alec’s back in a tight sleeveless black shirt, muscles glistening and—

Wait a minute. Is that his—

Magnus rapped on the glass, and Alec jerked, spinning around furtively. His expression relaxed when he saw Magnus, then tensed up a bit as he realized where they were.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, voice muffled through the glass. Magnus nodded his head towards the door, and went in to join Alec in the echoing room.

“I had a meeting with Clary, and decided to drop in on you as well,” Magnus said, hands going to Alec’s upper arms. Alec’s expression began softening again, then froze when he realized that Magnus was fingering the silver chain wrapped around his bicep, like a multilayered bracelet.

Alec stared at Magnus, whose stern expression was ruined by the fondness in his eyes and the tiniest quirk of the side of his mouth. “You’re not mad, right?” Alec asked in a small voice, and Magnus could kiss him senseless, he really could, but he restrained himself and nodded instead.

“I just…” Alec rubbed the back of his neck again, and looked down. “I wanted you. With me, here. Something of yours. We’re… this… is safe to me. It’s real to me. I… I like the reminder. It grounds me.”

“Oh, Alexander,” Magnus breathed, and stood on his tiptoes to kiss Alec, lips sliding over each other as Alec gripped Magnus’s waist and Magnus kept his hands on Alec’s upper arms, the chain feeling like light between his fingers. It certainly didn’t feel like someone hung it up on any coat rack this time.

When he finally drew away, Alec blinked his eyes open, those long eyelashes sweeping across Magnus’s field of vision. “Keep it,” Magnus said. “It suits you.”

Alec grinned, and Magnus’s heart sang.

“Also,” he said lightly, “it’s versatile and can be worn in several different ways. I can show you.”

Alec chuckled in resignation, and Magnus added, “But I want the ear cuff back, Alexander.”

Alec’s guilty start was all he needed to know, and Magnus chuckled. “Don’t worry, Alexander. I’m not mad. I just like that one the best.”

“Why?” Alec inquired.

Magnus smiled softly and said, “It’s an arrow.”

Alec stared at him, then smiled and kissed his forehead. “I’ll give it back to you when I get home tonight.”

 _Home._ Magnus exalted in Alec’s embrace.

So _this_ is what home feels like.

 


End file.
